Friday, November 07, 2014

According to Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles, the Dodgers will hire former major league outfielder Gabe Kapler as their farm director.

Kapler will fill the vacancy created when De Jon Watson left the Dodgers to become the Diamondbacks senior vice president of baseball operations in late September. The hiring doesn’t come out of nowhere, as ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick first reported news of the possibility last week.

Kapler has strong ties to new Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman from his playing days with the Rays and later on as a part-time consultant. It’s a bold and outside-the-box choice, but through his baseball coverage on FOX and Twitter, Kapler has shown that he’s extremely sharp and analytical.

Gabe Kapler, who has been a baseball analyst with Fox Sports 1 and appeared on the MLB whip around coverage, may be going to the Los Angeles Dodgers in some front office capacity, if his apparently accidental tweet is an indicator. Kapler sent out (and has since deleted) the following, that may have been intended as another direct message to someone, after ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick contacted him to confirm going to the LA front office.

Thursday, October 02, 2014

JABO might be able to do the hully-gully, but unfortunately they can’t imitate Vin Scully.

A few months ago we launched a new microsite, Just a Bit Outside (JABO). Now we’re gearing up for a grand experiment: Game 1 of the NLCS, powered by JABO, and broadcast on FOX Sports 1 on October 11 at 8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific.

Of course, FOX will provide the traditional broadcast, featuring Joe Buck, Harold Reynolds, and Tom Verducci in the booth, Ken Rosenthal and Erin Andrews on the field. Meanwhile, over on FS1 – and by the way, here’s an easy way to find FS1 on your cable or satellite package– NLCS on FOX Sports 1 Powered by JABO will focus on statistics, sabermetrics, and graphics, with plenty of debate and conversation while the action plays out on the field. We’ll utilize a double-box format, with the live game action in one box, and our studio hosts and guests in another, along with a constant flow of graphics.

FOX’s Kevin Burkhardt will host the show, and he’ll be joined at the big desk by JABO stalwarts Gabe Kapler and C.J. Nitkowski. I’ll also be tossing in the occasional observation and opinion, and interacting with viewers via social media. And finally, we’re working very hard to line up some very special guests.

Monday, September 15, 2014

-No World Series games will be going head to head with either Monday or Thursday Night Football. If the series isn’t a sweep, Game 5 will go head to head with the Packers and Saints on Sunday Night Football….

-Five networks will be airing Postseason games this year. The two Wild Card games will air on TBS (AL) and ESPN (NL), while the entire ALDS and ALCS air on TBS. The NLDS will air on Fox Sports 1, though two of those games will show up on MLB Network. As for the NLCS, both game one and game six (if necessary) will air on Fox. The other five possible games air on Fox Sports 1, and the entire World Series airs on Fox.

-Speaking of Fox Sports 1, they’re taking a page out of ESPN’s book for Game 1 of the NLCS. While the game airs on Fox, they’ll be airing a second-screen experience fueled by their new baseball portal, Just A Bit Outside. The broadcast will be branded “JABO presents: NLCS on FOXSPORTS1″, and will be hosted by Kevin Burkhardt. The alternate feed will focus on statistic and sabermetrics, and feature Rob Neyer, Gabe Kapler, and C.J. Nitkowski, among others.

-Fox Sports 1 is also going all-in with ancillary shows, and is providing more than 60 hours of pre, post, and mid-game coverage, including 90 minute episodes of America’s Pregame.

-Keith Olbermann will not return to anchor TBS’s studio coverage of the MLB Playoffs because of scheduling issues. The studio show will instead be anchored by MLB Network Radio host Casey Stern, and feature Gary Sheffield and the long-awaited return of Pedro Martinez as analysts.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

However, we are now more than a decade past the publication of Moneyball, and, to put it bluntly, the days of simply adding an analytical genius to the front office and expecting him to tip the scales are over. There’s simply too much information-sharing in today’s world for any club to gain a lasting structural informational edge over their competitors. Proprietary information is becoming harder and harder to come by. While there are certainly frontiers of data not yet fully explored, I believe the next real advantage will come not from which team can acquire the most information, but from which team can best put that information into practice. How efficiently and successfully information is shared with managers, coaches and players will equal wins now and going forward.

Herein lies one of the great challenges of implementing winning, but unconventional, techniques. Players are resistant to change; managers are disinclined to upset habits. Think about the eye-rolls whenever a team says, “We’re going closer by committee.”

A slightly more extreme example came up in conversation last night. Former first-round pick and MLB veteran C.J. Nitkowski alerted me to a piece written by our FanGraphs colleague, Eno Sarris. I had not yet read the article and asked C.J. for an overview.

“Essentially, Eno thinks we should be moving guys around in the outfield during the game based on defensive strength. Crazy! Can you imagine how the weaker outfielder would feel?”

C.J.’s half right. I can think of two dozen major-league outfielders who might have bruised egos, but I can also think of a dozen who’d be cool with it. The difference isn’t (just) player makeup, its institutional buy-in.